When it isn’t Kanye it’s Jay-Z hogging the news. Mr. Beyoncé, Shawn Carter is named in a class-action lawsuit claiming Tidal underpaid royalties to artists and infringed copyright. And that's just half of the bad news.

Montreal-based music provider Stingray Digital is pushing its international expansion deeper into Asia by acquiring Swiss company iConcerts, a television station devoted to live music that reaches 250 million households.

Consumers in Canada are spending more on telecommunications and mobile Internet access is climbing, but data costs remain a hindrance to widespread adoption of fee-based music streaming services for the Boomerang generation who favour smartphones for social interaction via Facebook and texting.